After 30 years of owning cars i am finally in car problem hell. I guess i have been lucky to not have the problems "other people" had with cars over the last 3 decades. It has caught up to me. As many of you know my first 2006 sts v blew a head gasket at 500 miles and GM did a repurchase for same car and year. Well, i picked up the car yesterday at the dealer and took off down the road 5 miles and poof.....engine light comes on. We did a wheel swap out and i thought somehow maybe that triggered something but i turn around and go back to the dealer and find out i have to have the cat converter replaced. They said it was due to a car sitting for a long time and getting started and sitting some more....this is an unsold 2006. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I think i am stuck....i am really gunshy on this car now and writing this may be good thearpy for trying to stick it out. Good news is there does not seem to be a groundswell of problems with this car. We'll see. Dealer is doing the best they can to placate me thru this. Someone said the dealer experience makes all the difference and i agree to a certain point but at some point you have to say what is going on here and cut your losses. Time missed from work has been incredible over the past 2 months. I'll keep this thread updated as best i can and will report good news and not just the bad stuff.

vixapphire

03-07-07, 05:26 PM

Cadillac and/or your dealer should've at least put you in an 07, given we're already well into March. Ridiculous. As for "sitting a long time", etc... What exactly does "dealer prep" mean anymore, if not to prepare the machine for trouble-free delivery?

Sounds like a frustrating time.

caddyv8v

03-08-07, 08:41 AM

just hang in there. this will pass. you have indeed been lucky over the years. allow the dealer to take care of the problem (again). from your posts, it sounds like they are doing everything necessary to take care of the situation. heck, by the time thsi is read, the new cats will probably be on the car. i disagree with the 07 substitution. take care.

V-Beach

03-08-07, 09:17 AM

Look at the bright side, 5 miles down the road and a red light somes on, that's gotta be some kind of record!

18 year old washes car (see: dealer prep?).

Kadonny

03-08-07, 09:42 AM

Dude, I hear you. I give them the one shot to fix the current car, then I would press them to get you into an 07.

Hang in there bud.

BarryH_GEG

03-08-07, 03:08 PM

The blown engine certainly sucks but replacing a catalytic converter is really no big deal. As for "giving" an '07 in place of an '06 - especially with so many '06s still out there; why? We're not talking about major hardship here and they could have (god forbid) tried to replace the original car's engine which is all they're obligated to do. Cadillac and/or the dealer seems to be doing the right thing.

Davidstan

03-08-07, 03:09 PM

Dude, I hear you. I give them the one shot to fix the current car, then I would press them to get you into an 07.

Hang in there bud.

exactly my plan.

Davidstan

03-08-07, 08:50 PM

Just tried the remote start for the 1st time and it does not work. Instead of starting i get a hissing sound. What a joke. I'm done.

thefred

03-08-07, 09:01 PM

David,
I'm sorry this has turned into a real nightmare for you. I guess you know how to do this since this is your second time around, but did you set it in your preferences and then press the lock button first?

vixapphire

03-09-07, 04:01 AM

The blown engine certainly sucks but replacing a catalytic converter is really no big deal. As for "giving" an '07 in place of an '06 - especially with so many '06s still out there; why? We're not talking about major hardship here and they could have (god forbid) tried to replace the original car's engine which is all they're obligated to do. Cadillac and/or the dealer seems to be doing the right thing.

item: on the xlrv companion forum, as early as december 06 a dealer was offering up new remaining dealer stock 2006 xlr-v's for $58k including delivery anywhere in the country. if the remaining new 2006 sts-v's have depreciated anywhere near as much as the xlr-v's appear to have, then the sts-v they gave him is worth far less than a 2007, and if he paid near sticker for his 2006, there is an argument (although it's a pretty vaporous one) that he is being shorted big-time by not being offered a comparably-valued 2007. it would matter a lot if he wasn't planning on keeping the car for longer than a few years.

but, like you said, this is really only an issue because they're giving him a replacement car in the first place rather than just replacing one part after another as problems arise. personally, i only buy my cadillacs a few years old for the reason that i'd rather someone else spent all the time teething the car in the dealer's service bays because i'm too busy for that! once it's over and the car is brought to the standards most any competitor's car has leaving the assemby line, then cadillacs are fantastic cars.

i've owned two, and they were both the love of my life, esp. my 1991 60 Special.

asking now: for those who've owned cadi's in the past too; are the new, heavily technologized v-series cars (not the cts) more troublesome and service-call-prone than the older cadi's you've owned?

Davidstan

03-09-07, 06:43 PM

Dealer got back to me after i asked for my money back..ha ha..and said i need to give it one more shot which i agreed to after cooling off last night. We'll see.

The only caddi's i have owned are V's and the CTS v didnt have problems the 1 yr i owned it except for a diff leak that could not be fixed.

BarryH_GEG

03-09-07, 08:38 PM

...if the remaining new 2006 sts-v's have depreciated anywhere near as much as the xlr-v's appear to have, then the sts-v they gave him is worth far less than a 2007, and if he paid near sticker for his 2006, there is an argument (although it's a pretty vaporous one) that he is being shorted big-time by not being offered a comparably-valued 2007....

He paid (or overpaid) for a 2006. Replacing his car with a like 2006 is an appropriate settlement. If there were no longer any 2006s available than either offering him his money back or a 2007 (at their discretion) would be an appropriate settlement. Changes in market value of the 2006s have nothing to do with an exchange - depreciation would have equally effected the original purchase as well as the car he received in the exchange.

asking now: for those who've owned cadi's in the past too; are the new, heavily technologized v-series cars (not the cts) more troublesome and service-call-prone than the older cadi's you've owned?

The question and answer apply to ever luxury brand. If you look at M-B and BMW's drop in the J.D. Powers surveys it's all due to electronics. M-Bs new 7-Speed automatic has been especially trouble prone. As cars become rolling computers and entertainment centers there's no doubt there's more to break. Not only that, when something breaks, it's a lot more complex to diagnose and repair. I'm on my third new Cadillac in eighteen months and (knock on wood) they've all been built well and performed flawlessly. I've also owned five European and Japanese brands over the past six years and have to say the Cadillac's have performed as well or better. I have a great relationship with my dealer which helps a lot.

BarryH_GEG

03-09-07, 08:44 PM

Dealer got back to me after i asked for my money back..ha ha..and said i need to give it one more shot which i agreed to after cooling off last night. We'll see.

The only caddi's i have owned are V's and the CTS v didnt have problems the 1 yr i owned it except for a diff leak that could not be fixed.

It sucks that you're going through all of this but you make it sound like you have options. You really don't. You can't void the sale because you're beyond the 72 hour recourse window. You can't lemon law the car because none of the problems are recurring. Depending on the State you live in you might have a shot at lemon law if the car stays out of service too long. The fact that they (GM/dealer) willingly replaced the car shows that they are working with you in good faith. You can't use BBB to arbitrate for the same reasons you can't lemon law the car. You can't sue them (and win) because they're being so cooperative. I hope this works out for you soon. I'd be just as pissed as you are.

Davidstan

03-09-07, 09:11 PM

It sucks that you're going through all of this but you make it sound like you have options. You really don't. You can't void the sale because you're beyond the 72 hour recourse window. You can't lemon law the car because none of the problems are recurring. Depending on the State you live in you might have a shot at lemon law if the car stays out of service too long. The fact that they (GM/dealer) willingly replaced the car shows that they are working with you in good faith. You can't use BBB to arbitrate for the same reasons you can't lemon law the car. You can't sue them (and win) because they're being so cooperative. I hope this works out for you soon. I'd be just as pissed as you are.

I was hoping for someone to bring this up. You see, this should all be about relationships and not what the state legislators or feds allow for these consumer issues. I have been a good "on the record" customer of GM and this dealer for years. We have all been lulled into " what does the gov't allow" on this issue or that issue. If a dealer sees they or GM is being taken advantage of then react accordingly. If a good customer has an issue then the good customer is being treated to the lowest denominator because of the said state law. Dealers get trained to rely on the minimum "they have to do based on state law" instead of dealing with situation on its total merits. Dealers that deal in bad faith will be taken care of by the market as they will not survive long in any community where people talk to one another.

Fortunately, my dealer is working thru a tough situation i think and we'll see how it turns out. My point is that you folks who think the Govt is protecting you w/ all these lemon laws are not looking at the bigger picture to see how these govt regulations can actually hinder the consumer in many cases. Just my opinion.

BarryH_GEG

03-10-07, 02:11 AM

Dealers that deal in bad faith will be taken care of by the market as they will not survive long in any community where people talk to one another.

But unfortunately, you hit on a bigger issue. Over the past few years, customer service has declined to the point where it's almost comical. In the quest for profits it's become a race to the bottom where humans have been replaced with voice response systems, calls are answered in India by folks who have had minimum training, the list goes on. Our call center reports to me and I was recently speaking on a panel. My fellow panelists (Telus, DirectTV, and MasterCard) were all evangelizing customer service yet each of us use one of the above customer service methods to handle incoming calls. The only reason we do is to save money. I was quoted as saying "I'll deliver customer service at a competitive level; no matter how low that level goes." It's simply impossible to "out service" your competitor anymore and have it make a meaningful impact on customer retention or acquisition. With the Internet, pricing is transparent and people want and can find the lowest price. They'll grumble about bad service but at the end of the day they're not willing to pay a premium for better service. Looked at another way, if customer service was a primary car purchasing decision, we’d all be driving Lexus’. Yet their market share hasn’t really shown significant growth year-over-year. To offer uncompetitively high levels of service that place you at a competitive disadvantage financially gets you hammered if you're a public company. Car dealers are no different. With the likes of AutoNation and Lithia car sales and service have become formulaic and the extent to which dealer's are willing to absorb costs to satisfy customers has dropped considerably. Hell, even GM's gone nuts. Stabilitrak on my SRX was engaging while the car was driving in a straight line. Each time it happened, the fault was stored but the steering wheel sensor checked out OK at the time it was scanned. My dealer had to escalate the case above the Regional Manager in order to get the sensor replaced under warranty. So, in the end, it's luck of the draw. Fortunately I have a great relationship with my dealer and they go above and beyond for me. It sounds like your dealer relationship is pretty good also or they wouldn't have so readily got you out of the first DOA car. The good news is a couple of months from now you'll be focused on what a great car the V is and all these problems will be a distant memory. Good luck!

caddyv8v

03-10-07, 07:33 AM

The good news is a couple of months from now you'll be focused on what a great car the V is and all these problems will be a distant memory.

agreed.

thefred

03-14-07, 07:53 AM

David,

So how did everything turn out?

Davidstan

03-14-07, 09:27 AM

David,

So how did everything turn out?

Car is still at dealer. They performed the software upgrade because i was having a outside temp readout issue. After that the remote start began working....they fixed alignment and installed new cat conv. Should get it back today late. Driving a DTS loaner. Adequate but starting to miss the SC whine. Found out one thing and plz dont take offense anyone. Every caddy i have driven loaners or my own have had slight rattles either in the dash or seats. Weird.

vixapphire

03-14-07, 01:40 PM

My last cadi was an '02 DTS; before that a '91 Fleetwood FWD. Both rock-solid.